Door-latch.



F. I. CUNNINGHAM.

, noo LATCH APPLICATION FILED OCT-24, I911- 1,265,886. I I Patented May 14,1918.

fao /2I /6 I 19 a IT {II 34 Q4 161 110 I up I8 14'19 PETER JCUNNINQHHM attorney,

PETER J'. CUNNINGHAM, OF JARBIDGE, NEVADA.

' DOOR-LATCH.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented :May 14, 1918.

' j Application filed October 24,1917. Serial No. 198,238.

To all whom it ay concern Be it known that I, PETER J. CUNNING- HAM, a citizen'of the United States, residing at Jarbidge, in the county of Elko and State of Nevada, have invented'certain new and useful Improvements in Door-Latches, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying draw in 's. j

This invention relates to an improved door latch and'has for its primary object to provide simple, efiective, and" inexpensive 'means for securely latching screen doorsand the liketo'hold'the same tightly closed at the top of the door,,as well as the bottom thereof.

It is another and more particular object of the invention to provide a knob actuated door latch embodying latch bolts movable in the door at'right angles with respect to each other, a jfiexible connection 'betweenone of saidboltsiahd the knob rod to retract said bolt when the rod is turned in onedirection,

"means on the other bolt with which the rod co-acts tomove the same to its 'efiective and ineffective positions, andaspring acting to project the first named bolt to its locking position. I

l It isialso affurtherv general object of the invention to provide a latch of the above character which may be inexpensively manu factured' and applied to the door, is not liableto 'get out'of order, and is positive and reliable in its operation;

WVith the above and other objects in view,

my' invention consists in the'novel features of construction, combination, and arrangement of parts to be hereinafter more fully cnmpanying drawing, in which,

Figure 1 is vertical sectional view through one side of a screen door showing the same latched in its closed position by means of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a section taken on'the line 2'2 of is- 1,.

Fig.3is a section taken on the line 3'3 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4 is a detail perspective view of one of the latch bolts.

Referring in detail to the drawing, 5 designates a door which is hinged along one of its longitudinal edges upon the door frame in the usual manner, as indicated at described, claimed. and i'llustrated in the ac- 6. In the illustrated embodiment of my invention, I have shown the same applied to a screen door, but it is manifest, of course,

' able latch bolt 14,

thatthe device can be other door constructions.

Adjacent the free'vertical edge of the'door and substantially midway between its upper and lower ends, said door is providedwith a transverse opening 7 in which the female section 8 of a knob rod snugly fits for rotative movement. vided with a longitudinal,rectangular bore 9 to receive the rectangular male section 10 used as well upon .of the rod, said rod section having a knob or head 11 on one end which may be of any preferred ornamental form. The rod section. 8 is also provided with an enlarged, tapering, end portion'having an ornamental head 12. A metal plate 13 is engaged over the face'of said head and a screw 14 is disposed through a central aperture in said plateand threaded in the end of the rod section 10, whereby said rod sections are held,

in assembled relation for turning movement asa unit.

In the-central portion of the door, a rectangula r opening 13 is provided,'in which the horizontally movable latch bolt 14: is disposed. This opening 13 is intersected by thejtransverse opening 7 in the door, and the end of the rod section 8 fitting within said opening has its lower portion cut away, as shown at 15.

Spaced, upstanding pins 16 This rod section is pro- 7 fixed in the latch'bolt'l l, extend into this cut-away portion of the rod section; A rod or pin 17 also projects longitudinally from the end of the rod section 8'and extends be tween the spaced pins 16. It will thus be apparent that when the knob rod is rotated 1n one direction, the pin 17 co-acting with one of the pins 16 will draw the latch bolt 14 inwardly, releasing said bolt from engagement with thekeeper 18 fixed in the door frame. A stop pin 19 is'fixed in the. ,door

and projects into the opening 7 said pin limiting the reverse-rotation of the knob rod by the'engagement of the pin 17 therewith.

In conjunction with the horizontally movcally movable latch bolt 20 which is mounted for movement in the upper end of a longitudinally extending opening 21 formed in the door, said opening communicating at its lower end with the transverse opening 7 The wall of this opening, in spaced relation to its upper end, is provided with a shoulder indicated at 22, against which one end of a coil spring 23 is seated, the other end of said spring acting against the latch bolt 20 I also provide a vertito project the same upwardly above the upper edge of the door. A chain or other flexible element 24 extends through the opening 21 and has its upper end suitably attached to the bolt 20, the lower end of said chain extending around a peripheral groove 25 formed in the knob-rod section 8 and being connected to the pin 19. It will thus be apparent that when. the knob rod is rotated to release the latch bolt 14;, therev will also be a downward pull upon the chain 2 L so that the latch bolt 20 will be drawn downwardly against the action of the spring 23 and disengaged from the keeper indicated at 26, which is fixed in the top bar of the door frame.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, it is believed that the construction and several advantages of the invention will be clearly and fully understood. When the knob is turned in the proper direction, the two latch bolts 1% and 20 will be simultaneously retracted so that the door may bev swung to its open position, and when the knob is released, the spring 23 acts to again project the latch bolts beyond the edges of the door so that when the door is closed, they will properly engage in the keepers. By providing the latch bolt at the top of the door, the door will be held securely closed within the frame and warping of the door prevented. The device is thus well adapted for use upon heavy storm doors and, if desired, an additional latch. bolt may be used at the bottom of the door and connected to the knob rod section 8 in the same manner as above explained, so that all three bolts would be simultaneously oper-, ated. It will further be apparent that the central, horizontally movable latch bolt can be dispensed with if desired. The very simple form and construction of the several parts of my invention enable the same to be manufactured at comparatively small cost and embodied in the door structure without mat rially increasing the expense thereof.

lVliile I have herein shown and described the preferred form, construction, and arrangement of the various elements, it is to be understood that the device is susceptible of considerable modification and I, there fore, reserve the privilege of adopting all such legitimate changes as may be fairly car ends n rmally intersecting the plane of said M member, an element carried by the operating member and disposed in parallel; relation to its axis, means on said latch bolt with which said element coacts whereby the latch bolt is retracted simultaneously with the retraction of the other of the latch bolts in the rotation of the operating member in onedirection, and means for projecting the latch bolts to their normal positions.

2. The combination with a door having a transverse opening therein adjacent its free vertical edge and a latch bolt mortise inter,-

sec-ted by said opening, of a horizontally movable latch bolt in said mortise a rod .ro-

tatable in said transverse open ng, said latch bolt having spaced pins fixed therein projecting into the transverse opening,

means on the rod disposed between said pins and co-acting therewith to, move said latch bolt, a second latch bolt vertically movable in the door at its upper end, a flexible connection between the latter latch bolt and said rod, whereby the bolts will be simultaneously retracted upon the turning of said rod in one direction, a coil spring co-acting with the latter latch bolt to, project the same,

to its normal position and reverse the turning movement of saidrod, and a stop member to be engaged by the latch bolt actuating means on said rod and limit such reverse turning movement of the rod.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

PETER J. CUNNINGHAM.

Witnesses Jon Sonmrrr. P. H. HAL

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Gommissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

